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The first part of our name, Golden Griffon, was inspired by the
paintings on Loretta's hammered dulcimer and is intended to conjure up memories of
simpler times. Stringtet is a combination of string band and quartet,
quintet, etc. that we made up because it's memorable, it's elegant and like
"String Band" it allows us the flexibility of any number of musicians.
For instance, when we play for contra dances, we'll have four or five
musicians and a caller. Typically, the instruments would be hammered dulcimer,
fiddle, flute, guitar and bass. For weddings or Christmas music, there might only be hammered
dulcimer accompanied by guitar.
The music we play is generally classified as dance music,
meaning square and contra dance tunes. Our repertoire includes traditional jigs,
reels, waltzes and airs from Irish, French-Canadian, New England and
Southern/Old Time sources, contemporary dance tunes written in the traditional
style and a few contemporary pop melodies that we have corrupted into contra
dance tunes. We also play Christmas and religious music when appropriate.
The Golden Griffon Stringtet has been performing since 1992
at cultural and historic events including the Ohio Renaissance Festival, the national
convention of Abraham Linclon Presenters, the Windham, New York Civil War Music Heritage
Gathering, New Year's Eve celebrations in Ypsilanti, Birmingham and Port Huron, the Ypsilanti
Heritage Festival, the Port Huron Thomas Edison Festival, the Northville Victorian Festival
Ball, the Clinton Fall Festival, the Henry Ford Community College production of "The
Grapes of Wrath," and the Greenfield Village re-dedication of Henry Ford's
birthplace as well as numerous weddings, receptions, contra dances, Civil War re-enactment
dances, fairs, festivals and community events throughout Michigan and
Ohio.
The Golden Griffon Stringtet has three recordings of
traditional dance music available, as well as a recording of traditional
Christmas music. Propinquity, our first
recording, is available on cassette or CD and features Loretta McKinney playing hammered
dulcimer and Jim McKinney playing fiddle and guitar. Our second recording,
A Fine Collection, is
available on cassette or CD and features Loretta playing hammered dulcimer and
Jim playing fiddle, guitar and bass. Our third recording, also available on
cassette or CD is entitled Christmas and has
only Loretta playing hammered dulcimer and Jim playing guitar. Our newest release of the medleys
of jigs and reels we use for contra dancing is called Band
Call and is available only on CD. It is the first recording to showcase the talents
of all four members of our band: Loretta on hammered dulcimer, Jim on fiddle and
guitar, Renzo Hutchinson on guitar and flute and Bob Ewald on bass. Jim and Loretta have also
released a CD of traditional tunes from the 1800s called
Gems of the 19th Century.
Loretta has been involved with music almost all of her life. Acknowledged in
Who's Who In Music, Loretta retains a teaching certificate in
piano and organ, and has received several awards for her performance on the clarinet. She
was named the 2000 ABA Traditional Instrumentalist of the Year for hammered
dulcimer. Her attraction to the hammered dulcimer is generated not only by the unique sound
and appearance of the instrument, but also the diverse musical styles that it
has the ability to enhance. Loretta began playing the hammered dulcimer in
1990, the same year she met Jim, Renzo and Bob. Loretta has been giving private lessons
on hammered dulcimer since 1996.
Jim started playing guitar in 1978 and fiddle in 1987. He also dabbles a bit with the mandolin and bass. Jim has played with The Shakin’ Hammers String Band, with whom he made two cassette recordings, Hit & Miss and Dancing Bear. Jim and Loretta met in 1990 and in 1992 formed The Golden Griffon Stringtet.
Jim has been presenting workshops at the Original Dulcimer Players Club Funfest in Evart, Michigan since 1997, teaching tunes, ornamentation, harmony and music theory. He is currently a violin and guitar instructor at Eastern Michigan University's Community Music Academy. Jim also offers private lessons in his home on fiddle and guitar to students of all ages.
In August 2008, Jim placed third in the Manchester Riverfolk Music & Arts Festival Fiddle contest. In March 2008, Jim participated in the Advanced Fiddling competition of the National Federation of Music Clubs. He received a "superior", their highest possible rating. Jim took first place in the 2005 Hetzler's Fakebook Fiddle Contest with his performance of Soldier's Joy. Jim has received two seconds, three thirds, one fourth and two sixths in the Michigan State Championship Old-Time Fiddlers Contest from 1995 to 2005. He has been serving as Director of the contest since 2006. He was named the 2000 ABA Traditional Instrumentalist of the Year for fiddle.
In 2004, Jim's original composition, The Well Digger's Daughter (mp3) (ABCs) won second place in the Second Annual Nebraska Chapter of the American String Teachers Association Fiddle Tune Composition Contest. In 2005, Jim's original composition, Emptyhead (mp3) (ABCs) won first place honors. In 2006, Jim again won first place with his original composition Perporkin (mp3) (ABCs) In 2007, Jim took third place with his original composition The Lucky Streak (mp3) (ABCs) More of Jim's original compositions can be found on his tune page.
In 2001, Jim and Judy Raber published Come Dance With Me, a biography of old-time Michigan fiddler Les Raber, containing articles, photos and Jim's transcriptions of 119 tunes from Les's repertoire, including Les's original compositions, rare old tunes learned from Les's father and grandfather which had never before been written down and many old favorite fiddle tunes played in Les's unique style. The book is now in its fourth printing (2008) and contains Jim's transcriptions of 176 of Les's tunes.
In 2007, Jim and Judy Raber produced Come Dance With Me...Again! a CD of 43 tunes from Les's unique repertoire.
Renzo has experimented with a number of instruments and musical styles since
his first slide whistle in childhood. He began studies in classical flute in high
school, picked up a guitar and sang his way through the folk music of the '60s and
'70s then came upon the hammered dulcimer in the '80s. More recently, he discovered old
time, traditional dance music from the British Isles, Canada, and the United States,
and their contemporary outgrowths. In recent years, he has focused on this musical
genre playing guitar, hammered dulcimer, flute and penny whistle. He delights in the
ability of this music to bring people together through a common language that
transcends occupational, class, and religious distinctions. He was recognized as the
2000 ABA Traditional Instrumentalist of the Year for guitar.
Bob has been making music of one kind or another since the age of 5. Bob's
father taught him to play ukelele and guitar and his grandmother taught him harmony
and yodeling. From there, Bob expanded his instrumental repertoire to include banjo,
mandolin, bass and hammered dulcimer. Besides playing all of those instruments,
Bob also collects and restores them. Bob has played with several folk and bluegrass
bands over the years including The Wildwood Flower Pickers and Michigan Consolidated
Grass Company who once opened for The Statler Brothers. In November 2000, Bob received
the ABA award for Traditional Instrumentalist of the Year for bass.
Tommy has been playing fiddle since he was three years old. He currently takes lessons from Rachel Zirk
at Eastern Michigan University's Community Music Academy. Tommy participated in the Plymouth
Symphony Orchestra's Celebration Youth Orchestra in 2006-2007. In 2006, Tommy won the Michigan State
Championship Old-Time Fiddlers Contest. Tommy won the instrumental division of Apple Charlie's Talent Contest
in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2008 and 2009, he placed third in the Manchester Riverfolk Music and Arts Festival Fiddle
Contest. Tommy participated in the National Federation of Music Club's Spring Festival in 2008, 2009 and 2010
where he received Superior ratings in the Old-Time Fiddle, Classical Violin and Classical Piano divisions.
Tommy also plays trumpet in his high school band.
Denise played keyboard for our contra
dance engagements and performed in the groups Just Us Two,
Tansy Patch and Floyd King &
the Bushwackers.
